The ancient elf Denegtacus has been waiting all his long life for the one to succeed him as protector of the elves and the greatest mage in Eurasia.  What he does not expect is that person to be a human: an aberration as far as his race is concerned.  Yet he knows that a child of such innate power must be properly trained to take his place as the next L'tusian or pose an unnacceptable threat to all the free races of the world.

For over a hundred years Denegtacus tutors his pupil until Chard's powers are almost a match for his own and even the elves have begun to accept the human enchanter as worthy to live among them.  Yet on the very day that Denegtacus prepares to initiate Chard as his formal successor, the old mage's hopes wither in the face of an appalling revelation, and the darkness that has haunted Chard's coul from the time of his birth reaches out to claim him for his own.

Now the people of Eurasia must put aside ancient differences and form a united front against an evil that threatens to engulf them and their lands for ever.